


Harry Potter and the Time He Accidentally Changed the World

by RuhRo7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Child Abuse, F/M, I honestly just wrote this for myself but I hope someone else likes it!, M/M, No Beta, OOC, Self-Indulgent, at least not as bad as some of my other stuff I may get around to posting, but nothing too extreme I don't think, dursleys will be worse than cannon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:54:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21548677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuhRo7/pseuds/RuhRo7
Summary: Harry goes alone to the Department of Mysteries in his fifth year and ends up travelling through time. Now he's having to retake his fifth year, befriending his parents and even professor Snape, and getting flirted with by a rather handsome Dark Lord. If only Hermione and Ron could see him now.
Relationships: Harry Potter & Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle, Harry Potter/Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Harry Potter/Voldemort, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 45
Kudos: 378
Collections: I. T. R





	1. The day when everything went slightly topsy turvy

**Author's Note:**

> So I may wind up just coming back and completely changing this or deleting it as I go. I haven't finished it yet but this mostly doesn't have that much plot. It's kind of just a bunch of random things that I thought would be neat to see all strung together. I know some of the ways I've structured things aren't grammatically correct but I preferred how it sounded as I read it in my head this way and that's the only reason I wrote it! This is my first fanfic as well as being the first thing I've put on the internet writing wise.

His heart pounding, pounding as he ran. He had to keep going, for Sirius. The revolving doors of the Department of Mysteries suddenly surrounded him. He cursed, he’s always just known which door to use in his dreams and they’re all completely non-descript.

  
“Fuck it- Hall of Prophecies.” Harry’s command rang through the room. After a moment’s hesitation, everything started to shift around him. When things finally went stationary again- ‘this is taking too long, Sirius’- the door in front of him opened revealing the hall that had haunted his dreams for months. All was quiet.

  
Harry started running again, he can’t be too late, but it’s too quiet. ‘Please gods don’t let me be too late.’ Quickly glancing around, trying to identify the place he’d seen in his visions, showed there are numbers on the rows. He’s near 147 now, faster, 103- can’t let Sirius die- 97. Harry froze. Nothing. Sirius isn’t here. His entire being vibrating with tension, Harry looked around him. “Sirius?” He called quietly, hoping not to draw Voldemort’s attention to himself. Silence, it’s too quiet. He sighed, Hermione was right, it must be a trap. He shouldn’t have come alone. Shouldn’t have come at all if he’s being honest. Shouldn’t have left his friends back at Hogwarts.

  
**Flashback**

  
The others had met with Harry and Hermione at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. They’d just gotten Umbridge abducted by centaurs when the rest of their friends appeared, helping them get back closer to the school. Ron was bickering with Hermione over their plan or lack thereof while Neville and Luna held Ginny back from running after Umbridge. Apparently seeing the toad get dragged off by centaurs wasn’t enough for the revenge thirsty red-head. She clearly also deserved a few hexes along the way.

  
“How will we get there Harry?” Hermione asked, logistics always on her mind. Her and Ron had not gotten any closer to a solution in the few moments they’d been speaking.

  
“We? No, I’ve dragged all of you into too much to begin with. If this is a trap I need you to stay here and get help for Sirius and me.” Harry refused to allow them to put themselves into even more danger with him. He honestly couldn’t say whether this would be a trap or not and wouldn’t put his friends in the position where they could be hurt again for him. He could see Hermione’s bushy hair starting to spark as it did when she was upset.

  
“Harry we are here for you and always in this together.”

  
“Yeah, mate, I thought Hermione and me proved that in first year with the obstacle course.”  
He could see the rest of their friends starting to get riled up and ready to defend their friendship as well. Though they may have not been close for as long they had all deepened their friendships over the trying year they’d been having.

  
Harry exchanged a look with Luna who nodded. They both whipped out their wands and stunned the other teens.

  
“Harry, I just want you to know that we all love you and we’ll miss you. But, don’t worry about coming back.” She looked up at him from behind her curtain of hair. She was clearly worried but also seemed resigned. She knew as well as he did that her trying to push him would just see her alongside their other friends.

  
Harry paused, it sounded like Luna was saying goodbye. “Luna I’ll be back. But if Hermione really is right and it is a trap then tell the others that I love you all and you’ve been the best family I could hope for.” Luna’s face crumpled. Harry stepped forward for a quick hug, feeling as she put something around his neck. Looking down he noticed it was a small pendant with a tiny sack next to it.  


“For protection.” Luna stepped away and whistled, calling a thestral to them. She gestured for Harry to mount and went to talk to the creature. “Now, Aziraphale, take Harry to the Ministry of Magic and fly home safely.” The thestral nodded at the small blonde and then started running to take off. Harry contemplated looking back once they hit the air but steeled himself forward. To Sirius.

  
**End Flashback**

  
Not seeing anyone coming for him immediately did little to convince him that this was not a trap, since his godfather was nowhere to be seen. But he did wonder why the vision brought him here instead of literally anywhere else in the seemingly empty Ministry of Magic. Harry Potter, his eyes caught on the small plaque bearing his name. Reaching out from under his invisibility cloak, which Hermione had run and gotten while he was arguing with Ron over plans to invade Umbridge’s office, Harry grabbed the luminescent orb.  


“Very good Mr. Potter,” came a soft drawling voice from behind him. Jumping slightly, because he thought he’s been more aware of his surroundings than that, Harry looked right into the face of Lucius Malfoy. He was staring at Harry’s hand still holding the prophecy outside of his cloak.

“You would be wise to hand that over to me, Mr. Potter.” Lucius held his hand out as though he was just waiting for Harry to place the orb in his hand. As if Harry would be stupid enough to hand over the only thing stopping these Death Eaters from cursing him into oblivion.  


Turning to see where all of the Death Eaters were placed around him, since they never seemed to be sent to do something alone, without moving his hand in an obvious way was a difficult but necessary task. There! Between what must be the Lestranges, though they looked even more deranged than their wanted pictures in the Daily Prophet.

“I think not, Mr. Malfoy.” Harry shot back as he dropped his hand back underneath his cloak. Thanking Merlin for having remembered to silence his feet before having come to the Ministry, a little trick the twins taught him, he took off between Bellatrix and one of the male Lestranges.

“Stun him, the Dark Lord wants him delivered unharmed!” Lucius yelled, shattering the quiet of the Hall of Prophecies. At this cue all of his fellow Death Eaters sprung into action. Whilst the others began to call out _p_ _oint me_ spells and other trackers, Bellatrix had a very different plan of action. She began cackling madly while shooting curses into empty air, apparently trying to track Harry down blindly. Thankfully for Harry he was already past the Lestranges and swiftly moving towards the door. Opening said door proved to be an issue though.

“There, by the entrance!” Called the other male Lestrange. Harry picked up the pace, bursting through to the revolving room which once again began spinning as soon as the door he entered through shut. He quickly picked a door, knowing the Death Eaters would be following through any second.  


Slamming it shut behind him, Harry looked around the room. It was a strange place, though the same could be said for the rest of the Department of Mysteries as well. There were clocks of varying sizes and colours everywhere. Then there was the strange bird in a jar that moved through life’s circle at a dizzying rate. Birth, life, death, and rebirth constantly like a phoenix ramped up. Harry froze, looking around for a back entrance so he could sneak away from the main doors. As he hunted for his escape, someone came through the door behind him, knocking him over. Harry stumbled, trying to catch his balance so his cloak wouldn’t fly up. However, he just managed to flail hitting something golden that began to hum onto him on his way down.

Then there was only pain. The world filled with it, overflowed with it, and someone screamed. He only realized he’d been floating when he his the floor, as the pain escalated impossibly. Forget Voldemort’s _crucio_ this had to be hundreds of times worse. Then with a distorted _s_ _tupefy_ , all went black.


	2. The day when things began to right themselves though not in the same positions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know the way Harry will be written in these upcoming chapters is extremely out of character not only for him but also for anyone who has gone through something remotely traumatic. I will have an explanation for it but I understand if it is unappealing regardless! There is a lot of dialogue in this chapter but please let me know if the formatting looks off or you can't tell who's saying what.

As he began to awaken, his first thought was that there was no pain. His second was that he needed to get up and see whether the Death Eaters had grabbed him. He opened his eyes to a wand being pointed in his face. “Expelliarmus!” He yelled, even without his wand his desperation to get the wand away forced his magic to cooperate. Harry heard it clatter across the room and turned his head to face the one who had wielded it at him.

Dumbledore’s shocked expression filled him with embarrassment. “Professor, I am so sorry. I just saw the wand and after seeing those Death Eaters at the Ministry, I panicked. Not that I think you’re a Death Eater sir, I just…” Harry stumbled over the words, trying to convey how sorry he was that anything Dumbledore had done could possibly be seen as threatening.

“Well then, it seems you have me at a bit of a disadvantage. It would appear you know who I am and I’m afraid I cannot say the same for you. Now, forgive me if this is just an old man’s mind failing, but how have we met?”

“Sir? I’m not really understanding you. We’ve met several times, mostly to talk over my latest near death experience at the end of each school year. Though it’s definitely been a couple of months since Umbridge kicked you out of Hogwarts for my defense group.” At this Dumbledore’s face turned into a deep frown, the twinkle in his eyes fading in his confusion. “Professor Dumbledore? I’m sorry if that hurt you to mention, I just don’t understand how you could forget me. I hate the fame but I’m the “Boy Who Lived.”” At this Harry made self-deprecating quotation marks, cringing at the ridiculous title the wixen world decided to bestow upon him.

Suddenly Harry remembered what had taken him to the Department of Mysteries to begin with. “Sirius! Professor did you see Sirius anywhere near the Department of Mysteries? Voldemort sent me a vision that he was being tortured in the Hall of Prophecy but when I got there it seemed to be a trap since the only ones there were Death Eaters. But, is Sirius still at Headquarters?” Harry knew that Kreacher had told him that his master was gone but for all he knew Sirius might have left for a quick walk. Well, that was unlikely considering his Azkaban escapee status, but stranger things have happened and Harry needed him to be okay.

“Sirius? You wouldn’t happen to mean young Sirius Black would you? Last I saw of him he was speaking with his friends about next year’s OWLs.”

Harry felt his whole body freeze. “What? OWLs? But that’s not-” He looked up quickly at Dumbledore, how could Sirius be taking OWLs? Not to mention that he didn’t even need them, having passes them several years before Harry was even born. “Professor I think there’s been a mix up. That can’t be possible.”

“What is the year as you know it young sir?”

“1996 Professor.”

"Ah I think we’ve just figured out what the miscommunication here is.” Harry just looked at Professor Dumbledore. Now that he was truly looking at the man and not just assuming all was the same as the last he’d seen him,with just slightly differently garish robes, he could see the professor was notably younger. He definitely had lost a few inches to his still admittedly impressive beard as well. Harry buried his head in his hands and took a deep breath.

“Are you quite alright? And may I please get a name, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to sound polite while not knowing it.”

“Harry, Harry Potter, sir.”

“Another Potter, any relation to James or Fleamont?”

“Yes sir, James is my dad but I don’t know about a Fleamont.” At this Dumbledore looked at Harry with something akin to suspicion.

“You know James but don’t know Fleamont? Had there been a falling out in the family?”

“I don’t know sir, they’re all dead. I’m an orphan and I live with my muggle aunt.” Sadness replaced suspicion in Dumbledore’s eyes. “I’m very sorry to hear that young Mr. Potter…” Harry supposed he made a face since Dumbledore cut himself off rather abruptly after saying his last name.

“It’s just that you always call me Harry, sir. I’m not very used to being called anything else by you.” The professor’s face lit up in a pleasant smile as he chuckled a small bit.

“Well then young Harry, I will be seeing about getting one of your Mediwizards or Healers in to see how you’re faring now that we’ve decided what has brought you to this fine establishment.” Harry saw the wizened wizard get up as spryly as ever and hum on his way over to the door.

Once he left, Harry ran his hands through his hair unknowingly in the same motion his dad used very frequently. “Of course you had to go time travelling, what else could Luna have meant with her goodbyes.” The door to the little room opened again and this time Dumbledore was preceded by a roughly middle aged looking man in some plain but green robes.

“Very well, Harry this is Healer Geoffrey and he will be giving you another look over to make sure your tumble through time hasn’t adversely affected you. When he’s done an Unspeakable and I will be coming back to ask you a few questions before we tackle what exactly we’ll be doing with you henceforth. But this will go just like your average check up, hopefully, so no need to be worried.”

“I’ve never had a check up sir, I’ve only been to the hospital wing when Madame Pomphrey was helping me after those near death experiences I told you about.” The Healer looked rather disgruntled after that.

“Have you had your immunizations? Both muggle and magical? How about any follow ups for your treatments at Hogwarts?”

“No sir, my aunt and uncle didn’t much care for me so they told my school that I wasn’t to get any inoculations due to my parents’ religion and honoring their wishes. Truth is they sort of hoped I’d get some awful disease so I wouldn’t be a burden on their lives anymore.” Dumbledore looked rather uncomfortable with this information.

“Had you been sent to live with new guardians after starting Hogwarts?”

“No Professor, you- the future you that is- told me that there were blood wards to protect me from Voldemort. But he did take my blood for his rebirthing ritual in my fourth year so I’m not too sure how effective they would be. But, no, you still sent me back sir.”

“I’m very sorry young Harry, I will strive to do better though I know that must be little comfort.” Hearing this Harry got an idea, a very odd idea considering half of whom it would benefit.

“Professor, I was wondering whether I could tell you about some pretty severe abuse cases that may be happening currently. It is 1975 now right?”

“Yes, Harry that is correct.”

“You might want to look in on Sirius Black and Severus Snape. I know that Snape’s muggle father ended up killing his mother in a fit of rage over magic and Sirius ran away to live with the Potters around this time because his family was so awful to him.”

“Thank you Harry, you can be assured that as soon as I’m done with your case for the day I will look into it.”

“Thank you professor.”

“Alright let’s get back to what I’ve been called in for, yes?” Healer Geoffrey snarked without looking very put out. “Mr. Potter I will have to cast a few diagnostics on you so please be prepared.” He waited for Harry to nod and began chanting and casting in a low but quick tongue. Harry could clearly tell it wasn’t quite English but it was still familiar to him. After a few moments a few feet of parchment were filled from the scroll he had brought in to apparently use like a magical printer. “So this matches up quite well to the scroll we did when you were first brought in but we do need to ask a few questions. I’m to assume these injuries are to do with your- what was it- yearly near death experiences?”

“If you’re talking about a troll, magical exhaustion and burns, basilisk venom, dementor exposure, run in with a dragon, trident injury, acromantula bite, cruciatus exposure, ritual torture, and finally the time travel incident then yes.” As Harry was listing off his recent experiences Healer Geoffrey ran down the parchment with his quill, marking off some things and making notes next to others. Dumbledore started to pale then turn a rather off shade of grey that seemed to be mixed with green.

“And the blood quill, malnourishment. And what seems to be rather serious bone breakage? Oh and not to forget the bone vanishment?”

“Oh, that’s on there too? So the blood quill was my most recent defense professor. That was her idea of detention, lines. The bone vanishment was a useless defense professor in my second year, but we did grow them back overnight. And the others was just my relatives.” Dumbledore had no sparkle in his eyes now, he was sort of hunched over and looked as though he’d been repeatedly kicked in the stomach. The Healer was looking at Harry oddly. Harry couldn’t quite place the emotion in his eyes so he decided to just duck his head and mutter about it not being a big deal, just something he’s had to get used to over the years. This made Dumbledore look even more remorseful and let out a sort of pained gasp. “Professor are you alright?”

“I’m so sorry my dear boy. To be as young as you are and to have seen so much and been put through so much more. It’s unconscionable.” Healer Geoffrey had been grabbing potions from a house elf-or is it a hospital elf- and was setting them up either on the small over the bed table, on the counter across the room, or in a bag.

“That it is Albus but it does the lad no good for you to throw him a pity party until after he’s better. Now Mr. Potter, you’ll need to take these potions now.” He gestured towards a large grouping on the over the bed table. “These potions tonight.” He pointed to another rather large group on the counter. “And these over the coming weeks as labeled.” At this he pointed to the bag which seemed much smaller than Harry though could contain that many potions. “Now, I believe after you’ve taken these I can leave Mr. Potter, but an elf will be dropping off breakfast for you and I want you to eat as much as you can.”

“Yes Healer.” Harry nodded to the man before beginning to down the awful potions in the order he’s given them. They are revolting but Harry knew that he wouldn’t be able to escape without taking them. After all there was no Sirius the godfather in this time to help him escape St. Mungos. After he’s finally downed all 12 potions-12 potions!- Healer Geoffrey told Professor Dumbledore that he could get the Unspeakable, against his deepest wishes, and that he would see Harry later that day or the next. After bidding everyone goodbye he walked out of the room, leaving Harry to the tender mercies of Professor Dumbledore and the Unspeakable.


	3. The day that continues on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter full of dialogue! Things will be progressing after this though I promise.

The Unspeakable walked in and it was honestly one of the oddest things Harry had ever experienced. And that was saying a lot. Harry had seen some weird things in his short time back in the Wixen World but this took the cake even more than his unapproved run around the Department of Mysteries. The Unspeakable, as Harry could neither call them Sir nor Ma’am, was an enigma shrouded in a mystery. Literally, the cloak made it basically impossible to tell a single thing about the Unspeakable. Harry couldn’t even tell what sort of shoes they were wearing since something about the cloak made him very wary of looking at details. Which normally wouldn’t be an issue for Harry as he is a very curious person but he decided to listen to that instinct for a change. 

As Harry sat puzzling over this latest wrench in his Mental Model of the Wixen World, they began to speak which just confused him further. The voice the Unspeakable used, as there was little chance that voice belonged to the person, was entirely impossible to derive any sex, accent, or age from. It was as though Harry couldn’t tell you a single thing about the Unspeakable that would make picking them out of a crowd possible, which was true. Shaking off these strange happenings, Harry tried to focus on what the Unspeakable was actually saying. 

“So we have an unauthorized jump through time. Now Mr. Potter I need you to fill out this paperwork.” The Unspeakable shoved a rather large book onto the over the bed table that had just been cleared. “As soon as you start writing in this book it will take copies of your memories of your life. This is to show the differences in this timeline compared to the one you came from. These memories will not be held against you as we don’t particularly care about the legalities of your actions.”

Harry, who had been getting more and more tense throughout this speech, let out a big breath at hearing that ending. “So I just need to start writing my life story in this book and then I’m done?” 

“For now yes, but an Unspeakable will likely be visiting you tomorrow to clear up any issues as well as to discuss where you will be going now you’ve recovered.”

Harry nodded to the Unspeakable to show that he’d heard then picked up the quill noticing that there was no ink. He hoped that this wasn’t going to be another blood quill situation. But he still put the nib to paper anyway and began to write. After a few words had appeared on the page it was like his history was just pouring from him, dragging with it all of the unresolved emotions he’d unknowingly pent up from all of his experiences. He noticed a tear falling to the book but he wasn’t overly sad, no he was just so relieved to finally be expressing what had happened to him that that relief couldn’t be contained. Before he knew it, he looked down at the book to see the final sentences being written. And he knew they had to be the final ones since they were about what had happened just that morning. As soon as the quill halted the Unspeakable grabbed the book from the table and left. 

“Well Harry seeing as I have you all to myself again, would you particularly mind answering a few questions for me?” Harry turned to Dumbledore, he had sort of forgotten about him in the relief of getting his story off his chest for the first time in his life. Maybe this is what Hermione meant when she spoke about the benefits of seeing a therapist. But the Dursleys were very unlikely to allow anything that may potentially help him and it didn’t seem like the Wixen World had any Healers that worked with the mind in that sense. 

Dragging himself out of his thoughts he heard Professor Dumbledore calling his name. “Sorry professor I was just thinking about some things my friends said before I… left. But of course I’ll try to answer your questions.” 

“Thank you Harry, I was wondering which year you’re in so that we can get our registration out of the way?” Looking at Dumbledore, Harry noticed a rather large book with Dumbledore’s fancy quill poised and ready to record his answers.

“I was just finishing my fifth year professor. I was in the middle of my History of Magic OWL when I got that vision.”

“Ah, we will have to have you retake your year unfortunately. The Ministry does do separate exams for those who do not attend Hogwarts but they are earlier in the year since many in the WEA have other duties the rest of the year.”

“That’s okay professor, I’d been very distracted this year anyways so I’m honestly not sure how well I did outside of Defense.”

“I believe you mentioned something about a defense group earlier?”

“Yes sir, the professor this year was worse than normal so my friend Hermione convinced me to hold a study group. I ran it and taught them a few basics that have helped me in a pinch. We also did some physical training which my friends and I started doing after the trouble in my first year. We just taught them a few things to practice as they could since the group could only meet occasionally. Umbridge, that was the professor, made all groups of three of more illegal during her stay in the castle.” 

“Was this for all years of just for OWL level students? And was it inter-house?” 

“We wound up having at least three people from each year but the first years. We didn’t invite them because we weren’t sure who was trustworthy yet and who would have ratted us out. We had people from all of the houses but only a few Slytherins compared to everyone else. There was a large group of Slytherins who were part of Umbridge’s Inquisitorial Squad. Mostly Malfoy’s friends and allies but we couldn’t be sure about some of them since Slytherins tend to hide how they really feel behind masks.”

“I commend you for trying to help those you could. I hope you’ll consider forming a group like that, granted with permission from your head of house or another professor, to help those in your new year and others.”

“I’d love to do something like that, sir. I really enjoyed helping them and hopefully someone in my previous timeline will continue to help train the others against Voldemort.”

“Now that was something else I want to ask you about, but first which electives were you taking?”

“I was taking Divination and Care of Magical Creatures.”

Dumbledore began to frown again. “That’s rather odd, we don’t currently have a Divination course at Hogwarts and due to the lack of trainability that the ability has, I can’t see why I’d add one.”

“The classes are different? I thought that it stayed pretty much the same over the years?”

“It would seem that that is not the case young Harry. We do offer Care of Magical Creatures though so you may continue with that as you please. For your second elective we have Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Wizarding Studies. Do any of those appeal to you?”

“My friend Hermione was tutoring me in Ancient Runes since it wound up showing up a lot more in Defense related books than I had thought it would. So I probably could get through that class and get an OWL in it. But I never heard of a Wizarding Studies class, what’s included in that?”

“So you don’t have that class then? I wonder why I got rid of it. Wizarding Studies is a look into how our world works from the Wizengamot to certain traditions generally only shown by purebloods and those raised in the Wizarding World. It also shows a little history but less goblin wars and more how things came to be as they are today.” 

A sudden pop filled the room startling Harry who had just begun to think about how much Hermione would have loved this class. A small house elf was floating a tray full of nutritious foods onto the over the bed table that was getting a fair amount of use today it seemed. “If Sir be needing anything else then Sir be calling for Clary.” 

“Thank you Clary.” Harry said before the elf popped away causing Dumbledore to smile proudly at him. Harry was mostly unused to someone showing their pride in him, especially for such a small everyday thing. It made him happy in such an uncomfortable way. This was Dumbledore, the major constant family figure in his life outside of his friends and the Weasleys. Of course he wanted the professor to be proud of him but it did make him a bit embarrassed anyway. 

“Well, you had better eat so I’ll leave you in peace for a while. I need to catch that Unspeakable regardless to see whether they have any plans for you that may interfere with ours. Professor Dumbledore rose, gave Harry a little wave in farewell, and evacuated the room.


	4. The end of the day that kept continuing

The breakfast was delicious and Harry devoured all that he could and then some. Towards the end of the delightful meal however, he began to feel a strange tingling unlike any he’s ever felt before. It was certainly not unpleasant but definitely new and rather strange. The fact that it was radiating from his scar just amped up the oddness. Harry found himself closing his eyes without really thinking about it, mentally chasing the feeling. He could hear a warm voice saying something to him, he could feel the alien curiosity poking at him like a little kid poking a strange bug with a stick.

“Voldemort?” He asked, eyes still closed to strengthen his focus on their connection. The alien feeling reeled back in shock then strode forward, trying to fully understand exactly what was going on. Harry could practically taste Voldemort’s magic scanning over him trying to decipher exactly what he was. He felt his own magic mingling with his, pulsing together and dancing around the rooms both men inhabited though they were miles apart.

“Harry? Are you alright?” Professor Dumbledore asked, shattering Harry’s concentration and breaking his hold on the connection. Though Harry could still feel Voldemort on the other end, like someone still listening after someone else sets down a phone.

“Sorry professor, I didn’t hear you come in. My connection with Voldemort was just acting up.”

“Connection? Do you know how you became connected to Tom?” Voldemort’s anger spiked at Dumbledore’s refusal to use his preferred name, causing a twinge of pain to course through Harry. Though it quickly receded after he gasped in pain. Apparently Voldemort was feeling merciful today, which almost made Harry laugh hysterically but he managed to swallow it in time. No need to make the professor question his sanity at this point, although with the day he’d been having there may be cause for question.

“When I was a year and a half old he came to my parent’s house and murdered them before trying to kill me. The killing curse rebounded, destroying his body and leaving me with this scar. The future you told me that it was my mother’s love that protected me since it formed a deeper shield that lasted up until my fourth year when Voldemort took my blood in his resurrection ritual.” Dumbledore looked at him with wide eyes and frankly looked as though he needed a very stiff drink even though it was only 10.30 in the morning. The sensation in Harry’s head abated for a moment, Voldemort likely needed time to come to terms with this new information just like Dumbledore did.

After letting them both process for a moment, Harry looked to Dumbledore and asked whether there was any more information that he wanted. The professor declined for that moment, promising to come back the next day after reading through the book Harry had completed earlier that day, if that was alright with him. When Harry agreed the professor stood to take his leave once again. Harry called him back for a moment, wanting to make sure that Sirius and Snape will be checked in on even after all of this new information. Professor Dumbledore smiled sadly at Harry and assured him that he’d be looking into the matter that very afternoon.

The rest of the day after everyone left passed quite quickly. It seemed that only moments after the elves popped breakfast in it was time for lunch and then shortly after that was dinner. Harry was thankful though, he wasn’t sure how he’d be feeling should he get a chance to really think over his situation. There was so much that had changed, not just the feelings connected to his connection with Voldemort but also the whole time travel thing. Even having done it before, granted nowhere near as far and in an extreme emergency, he wasn’t sure how to go on. Knowing that he’d be their parents’ age next time he saw his friends, should he ever see them again. Knowing that Sirius was young here, hadn’t been betrayed and imprisoned here, but also didn’t know him yet here.

Harry dragged himself away from those thoughts, there was no point to a pity party just yet. After he’d figured everything out and could breathe for a moment he could have that luxury. He decided to take the rest of his potions and get some rest. Just dealing with everything made him want to sleep for a month but he knew Dumbledore would likely be by tomorrow as well as an Unspeakable. He choked down the remaining 21 potions and almost immediately fell asleep.


	5. The days go by

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Sorry for taking so long if anyone was looking forward to seeing more. Unfortunately very slow updates are going to be continuing for me. I may post other things between when I can as well, like "Hard Day for a Dark Lord" but I have a very hard time thinking and writing (bit of the brain damage joys). Regardless I hope anyone who happens to read this enjoys!

Time must have been escaping him since he travelled through it. One second he was closing his eyes, welcoming the idea of not having to think for a few hours, and the next he was being awoken by a mediwitch coming in to check his vitals and make sure that he was alright. She also went into the potions bag and removed a few for him to take before the elves brought him breakfast. He quickly swallowed all six potions that would be a part of his regimen for the next couple of weeks. They weren’t as bad as the ones he’d taken the night before since they had hurt as they worked. He looked down at the table and noticed his glasses were sitting there still, completely unused from the day before. He looked away, testing that his eyes were actually working without the use of glasses as he gaped. The healer of the day came in and greeted Harry letting him know that Healer Geoffry had filled her in the evening before on which potions he would take as well as his overall situation.   
She introduced herself as Healer Barnes. She looked about middle age, fairly pretty with fancy glasses that reminded him of snitches as they were gold with silver wings on the sides. She had huge curly hair that reminded him a lot of Hermione, he wondered if it ever sparked like hers did when she was emotional. 

“How are you feeling this morning? We have it noted that you ate a fair amount of your meals but not all of it. You’ll need to work on increasing your appetite. Young witches and wizards need a lot of calories to help your body adjust to its growing magic levels as well as to help you grow as all teenagers do. Older wizards and witches still eat more calories than our muggle counterparts would and maintain a healthy weight.”

“I’ll do my best, I never knew that it was so important to eat so much. I’m still trying to adjust to about what a muggle eats since I wasn’t given much growing up. Why did I tell you that? I don’t normally just blurt things out.”

The Healer looked him over, then asked him to look at a bright lumos while she checked his eyes. “I believe you’re having a reaction to one of your daily potions, it could be causing you to say things that are true but not something you’d generally share. If you’d like I can test it to make sure how deep the compulsion goes, though that would mostly be answering increasingly embarrassing questions and cataloguing how you’re feeling as we do that?” She had an innocent grin on her face as she offered this solution. He didn’t believe that look. 

“Err. No. Thank you. I’d rather not have someone prodding at my thoughts while I’m effectively dosed up thanks.” Her face slid into a pout as she conceded his point. She finished her examination of him and left him to his thoughts. 

In what seemed to be no time at all, Dumbledore was poking his head through the door again. Harry hadn’t really expected him to be popping in that day, he thought it might take a couple to work through all of the things he’d wound up writing for the Unspeakable. He waved the headmaster in, a small smile on his face. Harry glanced quickly at the clock, it was so easy to lose track of time in the unchanging hospital room. “Good afternoon, headmaster.”

Albus Dumbledore entered the room with a warm smile. He asked Harry how he was holding up, and whether there was anything he could do for him before the Unspeakable came by to continue their work, hopefully finishing so that the headmaster and hospital staff could decide what to do with Harry. Just as Harry was declining needing anything more than was already promised, the Unspeakable entered the room. Dumbledore said a few pleasantries even though the Unspeakable didn’t bother responding. 

Instead, they brought out the book Harry had written in the day before. Apparently they needed a bit of clarification, as the spell was set only to take in everything Harry experienced which didn’t necessarily include outside information that he didn’t directly see or feel. After a lengthy explanation about the first end of the war, as well as all he knew that happened behind the scenes leading up to Voldemort’s resurrection, the Unspeakable declared him free to go. They didn’t really care what others had planned for him, which was a relief to Dumbledore as he’d been working on getting Harry into Hogwarts. All that the Unspeakable asked Harry to be careful of was jumping the wand with people he knew or knew of from his previous timeline, as there was a clear divide which, no, they would not be explaining so he’d better not ask. 

Knowing he was free to go, after being declared well enough by his Healer team, was a relief to Harry. He was already itching to get out of the hospital and to do something, anything that wasn’t just laying in bed all day. Before he’d even noticed, the Unspeakable was gone and Dumbledore was talking with Healer Barnes.  
“Very well Mr. Dumbledore, you can collect him tomorrow morning. But I will not see him leaving this room a moment before then.” Having said that, Healer Barnes turned to Harry and gave him a gentle smile. “Mr. Potter, your professor here has been campaigning for you to be sprung much earlier than we had been anticipating. I will be sending you off with a list of recommended potions, a diet plan, an exercise plan, and a contact list of Mind Healers that I’d like you to get in touch with.”   
“Am I not all better, Healer? I don’t understand why I’d be able to leave if I’m not healed or why you’d be sending me off with all that if I was better?” Harry cocked his head at Healer Barnes, he’d never needed any sort of plan or extra potions when he’d been released from the Hogwarts hospital wing. 

“Mr. Potter, Harry. You just went through a seriously traumatic magical incident. Even if you decide you’re feeling fine right now, that doesn’t mean that symptoms won’t be cropping up as you recover. And there will be a period of recovery. You’ll find when you try to get up that you’re feeling weak and dizzy, that the world is tilted slightly so and you will have a time of adjusting to that. That’s what the recommended potions and regimes are for. We may not be able to speed your healing any further but you do still have healing to do.”

“Oh.” Harry sat in silence after that revelation, he’d thought magic could do just about anything. Could heal any illness at the snap of the fingers or, in the case of vanished bones, overnight. To be told so bluntly that that was not in fact the case was eye opening. He’d have to work hard, but getting into tip top shape would be worth it. 

The Healer and headmaster said their goodnights. Dumbledore promised to be there bright and early tomorrow morning to pick Harry up, and would he mind terribly if they went straight to Hogwarts even though term wouldn’t start for a few weeks? Of course Harry agreed, seeing the castle again would be good for him. Seeing it without any Umbridges or Inquisitorial Squad would be lovely. 

After dinner that night, Harry read over a first draft of the treatment plan his Healers were putting him on. It was going to be a lot of physical therapy and work, with the help of a few nutrient potions as well. But he began to think of how he could achieve the results he was hoping for, at the castle. He promised himself that he’d be traversing the stairs and jogging laps around the Quidditch Pitch, eating what he could handle, and generally taking much better care of himself. He fell asleep planning, drifting off to images of himself running around the Room of Requirement. 

The next morning was a flurry of excitement for Harry as, even though he hadn’t been there that long, he’d finally be getting out of the hospital. By the time Dumbledore showed up to retrieve him, Harry was sure he’d managed to annoy the Mediwixen caring for those in his hallway. He’d asked several times if he could just go downstairs to meet the headmaster, so that they could just go whenever the wizard arrived. He’d also double, triple, and quadruple checked that the final copy was right for his treatment plan. In the end, they’d taken to sending in the elves, just dropping by with something for Harry to drink before the Mediwixen would come through to check in on him. That way he was either too busy drinking or just ready to go to the bathroom with only that on his mind. 

Thankfully, the headmaster did wind up coming in fairly early. They completed Harry’s discharge paperwork and bade everyone farewell. The duo had to take the Knight Bus, other forms of magical transport were expressly forbidden as they might aggravate the strain Harry was under physically and magically. Unlike the first time Harry had ridden the contraption, there was no Stan. It was just Ernie and a smiling older woman who took the fare from Dumbledore and introduced herself as Doris to Harry. 

He could tell she had a bit of an accent, as she was pointing out which beds were free for Harry to be secured on. It wouldn’t do for him to survive Voldemort several times as well as time travel just to be done in by a sharp turn on the bus. It wasn’t until she was raising her voice to yell, “Take it away Ernie!” That Harry really recognized the older woman. He couldn’t stop himself from gaping at her obviously not yet shrunken head, which drew the attention of the headmaster. 

“Harry, did you happen to take the Knight Bus much in your own time?”

“No professor. I only went on it once, in my third year. But it was just Ernie and this man called Stan by then. But I did hear a shrunken head yelling at Ernie that I could swear… It sounded just like Doris!”

“Ah yes, not a choice I’d personally make but having your head shrunk can be a helpful reprieve, or so I hear. The ones at the Hog’s Head are quite talkative. I rather think it’d make it very difficult to have too many big thoughts, it may help simplify things.” 

“I hadn’t realized that they were actual people, sir. I thought it was just a charm or spell, like the hat.”

“Who’s to say that the Sorting Hat was never a living being. As neither of us were there when it was created, we’d have a difficult time saying either way.”

“I suppose, sir.” Thankfully the duo reached their stop not long after this, allowing Harry a break to process the information. They pulled up near where the express was stationed. It would be waiting there for a few more weeks, heading back to London the day before September 1st. At least that’s what Dumbledore said when Harry asked why they had the train here if it would be leaving from London fairly soon. Apparently the platform only stayed at King’s Cross for a couple of days every year. It travelled to other countries providing them with a secret means of accessing transportation to their own schools. It was an agreement set up between the nations many centuries ago, before there were even trains and they had to use other means such as the carriages Beauxbatons still used.   
Speaking of carriages, Harry had just climbed aboard one of the thestral-drawn ones that went between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. It looked pretty much exactly the same as when he’d ridden in it each time before, in the future. Harry was growing more and more appreciative that he was on his way back to Hogwarts. Even just the past few days had shown him that things would be changing immensely over the following years, so getting back to something timeless like his school, his home, was something he was greatly looking forward to. 

Granted, he wouldn’t have his friends beside him as he normally would. Ron making jokes and cheering him up, Hermione scolding him and Ron for playing instead of doing homework while secretly enjoying their banter. He missed them already. But he was so glad that he’d made them stay at Hogwarts, the thought of them stranded at the Ministry while he was stuck here would have been torture. 

Dumbledore led Harry to some guest quarters near the Great Hall. They were quite plain but were infinitely better than any room Harry had lived in before, sans the Gryffindor tower of course. The room was more of a suite with a small sitting area, desk, and bathroom as well as the bed he was expecting. Dumbledore explained to him the rules he would have to abide by while living in the castle. It basically amounted to him agreeing to not go wild, to eat well, to do his exercises, and to get some rest. He was given permission to put the library to good use, even without Madame Pince’s watchful eyes on him. He was also told to just head down to the kitchens for meals, as there were only a few teachers that remained in the castle year round and they’d all long agreed that the Hall was a bit much for just them.   
Harry, of course, asked for permission to use the Quidditch pitch to get some flying in. The headmaster even agreed to let him use the practice snitches should he please. So all in all, Harry was quite looking forward to the following weeks spent mostly alone at Hogwarts. With those promises secured, the headmaster said his farewells and promised to stop by soon to update Harry on what was happening with Sirius and Severus. 

After Harry was left alone, he decided to go through his pouch. Luna wouldn’t have made absolutely certain that Harry had it unless it was very important. With a cautious peek inside, he saw a small note that read off two incantations and instructions for how to best remove the contents of the pouch without ruining something. Following those instructions, he set the whole thing on the floor in an open area, then he incanted “foris” which the note said would bring the objects out. 

There was an explosion of items that came rushing out of the miniscule pouch. There was a small trunk that seemed to be shrunk, a sack that had the Gringotts emblem on it, and several other bits and bobs. He specifically noticed that the album Hagrid had gifted to him his first year was strewn among the mess. Harry decided to start with the trunk, since it was definitely not the one he’d left behind in his dorm. After tapping it with his wand to make it expand, then opening it, he saw that it was a wizarding space trunk. His eyes wide with shock, he took the first steps down into a lovely little home. While exploring he saw that Luna had painted some beautiful murals along the walls and ceiling of his trunk-house. There were two bedrooms, a tidy kitchen, a stunning bathroom with a deep tub he was looking forward to trying, and a sitting area with a fireplace and a desk sat in the corner. 

As he wandered, he also saw that Luna had taken the time to put certain spells on things, since she had left little notes like the one he first saw in the pouch all over the place. They said things like, “ever fresh cupboard, with stasis charm for all foods” and “to use the bath with healing potions, tap the tap with your wand”.   
Having left the trunk, he looked into the Gringotts bag, sitting on top of what looked like an impossibly large stack of money there was another little note. It told him that Luna had withdrawn all of his gold for him and placed it in the sack, she had also gotten his assets from other vaults he may not have known about which likewise are now in the sack. She only asked that he enjoy the money and to use a bit of it to buy her some pudding after she’s born, if he didn’t mind terribly much. She had also included in this sack a compilation of bank statements from the different accounts she had drained. He set those aside to read later when he could really comprehend them, seeing everything so far had been overwhelming. He’d known Luna knew more than she ever let on, but to see real tangible proof of that, to see her setting him up for an entirely new future made him so grateful they had become friends. 

Having gone through the two larger parts of the contents, he gathered all the smaller pieces, resolving to look through everything carefully when he returned from getting some dinner. He made his way down to the basement, near the Hufflepuff common room where the portrait to get into the kitchens was. It was a slow trek, especially considering the last time he was up and moving on his own he was running through the Ministry, but he made it all under his own steam.   
He entered the kitchens the same as normal, thankful that nothing had really seemed to change yet again. After all, he would feel rather silly to go crawling up to the Headmaster’s office just because he couldn’t find food. The elves greeted him with as much enthusiasm as always, though he was missing Dobby, normally the little elf would be chattering his ears off by the time he’d set one foot into his domain. He’d definitely try to keep an eye out for him, preferably to free him long before the Malfoys ever got their hands on him. The elves that were there set him up with a large, for him, meal that was chock full of healthy but tasty foods listed by the Healers’ program he would be following. 

He ate slowly, watching the house elves going about their work and trying to force himself to eat more than he normally would. ‘This is going to be difficult,’ he thought, but he had to try. Getting better was at the top of his list, he had so much to learn about the time he’d landed in. Being held back by his body wouldn’t be very helpful for figuring out what he can and should do. Harry had decided already that he would be changing things. 

There was just no way that he could sit back and watch people suffer. Not to mention, watching his parents grow up and then die without doing anything. Never going to happen as far as he’s concerned. He’d already begun to make moves on helping to change the timeline. After all, no one knew about the abuse Snape and Sirius went through until it was too late to really do anything. Snape’s father was already dead by the time anyone knew, and Sirius had basically become a Potter. 

As he ruminated on the issues he would be facing, Harry managed to finish as much as he could of his dinner. After thanking the house elves, he made his way back to his rooms. When he arrived he realized that his day had been much fuller than he’d thought. Frankly he wasn’t sure he could keep his eyes open long enough to take care of his nightly rituals, never mind processing whatever else Luna had stashed away for him. He quickly tidied everything up, setting most things on the counter or coffee table, just so they wouldn’t get stepped on or otherwise ruined. Harry then went about his evening, very quickly winding up on the comfortable Hogwarts bed. Even without being in the tower, Hogwarts still managed to feel like home.


End file.
